ESPN hitching their wagging to KU



  • @elpoyo “Ukrainian roulette” is without doubt the best post you have ever made!



  • Devonte plays 40 minutes a game.

    We start one post player.

    We play only 7 consistently.

    Lots of risk. Who cares.

    Every team is America has weaknesses.

    KU is starting to play its best ball. No reason to jump off board now



  • BShark said:

    If my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle.

    You might not have any cousins, though.



  • @BeddieKU23 It’s not like @elpoyo was ever on board to begin with. Well that’s not true, he’s all aboard the Cuonzo Martin hype train!



  • BShark said:

    @BeddieKU23 It’s not like @elpoyo was ever on board to begin with. Well that’s not true, he’s all aboard the Cuonzo Martin hype train!

    True. I’ve grown tired of ragging against Elpoyo at this point.

    I thought he was going to pick on Devonte.

    He made a prayer 3 with the shot clock going down.

    Another jumper in similar situation.

    And that layup that hit every crevice of the backboard and rim.

    I thought the game Saturday was the ultimate test of our two Senior’s competitiveness and will to win. I stand behind them if we get put in a similar position in a few weeks.



  • I am actually in agreement that we need to play better. There were too many examples of poor execution versus Tech. Poor rebounding, Vick’s lack of intangibles (allowing Evans to go coast-to-coast), etc. we cannot depend on our players to impose their will on someone else.

    Even as we were controlling the game yesterday, there were many examples of poor/lazy passing where Tech nearly swipes the ball 3 or 4 times within the same amount of seconds.

    In any case, how will we prepare for the tourney is the only question now. I’m sure there will be spoilers in our bracket, like Kentucky, Tech, Oregon, Michigan, etc. Teams with either talent or coaching that can exploit a weakness. I think it’s not a bad idea to drastically reduce Devonte and Doke’s minutes until tournament time. Let DeSousa and Lightfoot play at least 15 minutes. Garrett and Vick need to each be tested. We will need minutes from both, but we have to find out who we can trust.



  • @betterfireE Vick has packed his bags imo.



  • BShark said:

    @betterfireE Vick has packed his bags imo.

    In that case, he better get his passport up to date as well.



  • BShark said:

    @betterfireE Vick has packed his bags imo.

    He didn’t play well Saturday but before that he was showing signs of life. When Vick isn’t efficient shooting the ball he’s not always helping KU.

    I think he struggles playing against athletes. Trying to guard Zhaire Smith Saturday was a perfect example of how far away he is from playing in the NBA. Smith looks like a 1st rounder compared to him.

    We need good Vick to show up every once in a while going forward



  • Honestly Smith should test the waters.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I went to the recent UVa Game Day in Charlottesville a few weeks ago and it was a 61-60 OT thriller! They won’t choose Game Day for a game vs Pitt which is winless in the conference. Although I will say, rooting for a defense when it is holding teams to low totals is exhilarating. If KU held a league opponent to 7 points in a half, it does energize the fan base. It reminds me of rooting for Withey to get blocks when he was going for the record, making the other team look like they just learned the game of basketball yesterday.

    That was a long tangent, RCJH.



  • @Buster-1926 I would also lose interest during exhibitions, but not during conference play. Excellence in any form is a joy.



  • Big 12 typically flames out in the tourney because, while the league is very balanced, there haven’t been many truly great teams in the conference over the last decade. Blake Griffin’s Sooners went to the Elite Eight. Buddy Hield got his group to the Final Four. The Pullen/Rodriguez Wildcats got to an Elite Eight. But point me to another great non-KU big 12 team over the last 10 years. There were some good Texas teams, a couple of interesting Baylor teams, a fiesty team or two from West Virginia, but I wouldn’t call any of those teams “great”.



  • Romeo Langford reading material



  • Buster 1926 said:

    @JayHawkFanToo I have a tough time even watching KU when their opponents score 7 pts a half. Many of the exhibition games during season start-ups I haven’t seen. If forced to, I’d be channel surfing for sure.

    The only reason I watch exhibitions is to acquaint with the faces of new players.



  • @justanotherfan

    Well…KU had some really good teams including a great one 10 years ago and as far as I know, KU is still in the Big 12. 😄



  • @JayHawkFanToo 30-7? Come on man, we’re not talking about football here.



  • wissox said:

    @JayHawkFanToo 30-7? Come on man, we’re not talking about football here.

    30-7? Say what? I don’t know what team that is. I am talking about the 2007-2008 team that went 37-3, won the Regular and Big 12 Conference Tournament titles…and yes, The NCAA Title as well…that team…



  • @JayHawkFanToo Your first post on this subject you referenced a 30-7 halftime score. That’s what I was making my lame joke about.



  • @wissox

    ROFLMAO.



  • Don’t think ESPN is hitching their Wagon on KU anymore.

    http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/22596994/high-seeds-danger

    No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks Even though BPI rates Xavier as the worst No. 1 seed by a decent margin, the current batch of second-round opponents for the top seeds are, overall, a worse matchup for Kansas.

    The Jayhawks, who rank seventh overall in BPI, have three major weaknesses: depth, rebounding and Udoka Azubuike’s free throw shooting. The bench plays just 20.1 percent of minutes available, the fourth-lowest rate in Division I, per KenPom. Although that is not explicitly a factor in either BPI or our Giant Killers model, it does suggest that the Jayhawks are permanently on thin ice with their bigs. Azubuike’s free throw shooting – on consecutive attempts Monday vs. Texas, he hit the backboard and then air-balled short – certainly could force the star big man to the bench at times in late, close-game situations. And their struggles on the boards makes the Jayhawks susceptible to matchup problems against certain types of teams. Missouri, Kansas’ worst-case scenario among current No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, barely has a positive GK Factor over the Jayhawks but rebounding is the reason it is positive at all. Missouri would have a 26 percent chance to beat Kansas on a neutral court, while Kansas averages an 81 percent chance to win against the entire current group of possible second-round opponents.

    http://www.espn.com/sportsnation/story/_/id/22586745/predictions-every-conference-tournament

    Our pick: West Virginia Kansas has won just one of the past four Big 12 tournaments, despite winning the regular-season title each season, and West Virginia has lost in the title game each of the past two seasons. The Mountaineers’ Press Virginia style is draining on opponents on short rest.

    http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22519688/jay-bilas-gets-set-march

    Kansas hasn’t looked like a top-five team for much of the season, but the Jayhawks might have the best pure résumé in the country in terms of wins. Their Quadrant 1 record is 11-3 and their Quadrant 1 and 2 record is an astonishing 18-5, both tops nationally. A 14th straight Big 12 regular-season title is another feather in their cap. Like Xavier, they lack elite wins.



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    Don’t think ESPN is hitching their Wagon on KU anymore.

    http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/22596994/high-seeds-danger

    No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks Even though BPI rates Xavier as the worst No. 1 seed by a decent margin, the current batch of second-round opponents for the top seeds are, overall, a worse matchup for Kansas.

    Like Xavier, they lack elite wins.

    And how exactly does the most elite team get an elite win?



  • bskeet said:

    BeddieKU23 said:

    Don’t think ESPN is hitching their Wagon on KU anymore.

    http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/22596994/high-seeds-danger

    No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks Even though BPI rates Xavier as the worst No. 1 seed by a decent margin, the current batch of second-round opponents for the top seeds are, overall, a worse matchup for Kansas.

    Like Xavier, they lack elite wins.

    And how exactly does the most elite team get an elite win?

    Can’t make this stuff up. I’m wondering myself



  • @BeddieKU23 🙂 Yep-- it’s a question for the omniscient ESPN sports writer.



  • @bskeet As I see it, we don’t get credit for elite wins essentially because the teams we beat haven’t beaten enough teams themselves. That is, of course, due in no small part to the fact that we beat every team in conference at least once, so we have reduced the eliteness of our opponents.

    They apply a transitive property of eliteness. Getting more credit works like this:

    If more teams had beaten us twice, they would be better and rise to elite status. We are all that is keeping teams from doing that. So, we need to lose more often to teams we beat so they will have better records.



  • Beat KU early in the season and you’ll likely land in the top 10. Then you have to stay there…



  • It’s a good thing ESPN is not in charge of selections and seeding. 😄


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